My Irish Immigrants

Today - St. Patrick's Day - seems like the perfect day to post about my immigrants, specifically my Irish immigrants.

Michael WALSH
believed to be from Dublin. An aunt had told me once that the family were haberdashers there. Once here, they settled in Shenandoah, Schuylkill County working in the coal mines.

Anna KEATING
Believed to be from County Mayo. She was born in 1855 and came here with her siblings when she was five. Her parents are assumed to have stayed in Ireland. The Keating siblings settled in Ringtown, near Shenandoah. She married Michael Walsh.

Michael and Anna had six children. One of whom was Martin Joseph Walsh, my great grandfather. At some point the Walsh family moved to Phoenixville. My grandmother mentioned once it had something to Martin playing baseball. In Phoenixville, which is in Chester County, he married Catharine O'Flaherty. She is the daughter of Dennis and Martha Durkin O'Flaherty.

Dennis O'FLAHERTY
Dennis was born in 1839.

Martha DURKIN
Martha was born in 1839 to Patrick and Abyan MURPHY Durkin. I have also seen the last name written with an "a" in place of the "i". I believe her parents stayed in Ireland.

Dennis and Martha had eight children. The first were twins - Mary and James - born in 1868 in Pennsylvania. Hence, the two immigrated before then but it has always been assumed they came over separately and met here.

Michael and Anna, and Dennis and Martha, are my maternal grandmother's grandparents. All were Roman Catholic. She would always point out that she was 100% Irish! My grandmother was Mary Rose WELSH. The family changed the name here because there were so many Walshes with similar names in the immediate area. She married Lloyd Pierson Still.

Mary KILPATRICK
Mary Kilpatrick (1884 - 1916) came over with her siblings. Her father James remained in Ireland with their mother. She and her siblings all settled in the Philadelphia area. The girls were all domestics. She was working on the Main Line when she met my great grandfather Pierson George Still, a blacksmith from Unionville. They married in 1908 and she moved to Unionville with him. She always longed her Ireland but sadly died in childbirth in 1916, never to see her homeland again.

I unfortunately do not have their actual immigration information ... yet. Ellis Island did not open its doors until 1892, which is after all but Mary Kilpatrick was here. Castle Garden did operate from 1820 to 1913 but databases there did not show any of my great grandparents. I am thinking Philadelphia might be a logical port but until I can document it, that is only a thought. Searches on Ancestry.com have not revealed anything, but of course I also have to accept that I am searching for very common names too.

Forget the pot o'gold, I just want to find a port of origin!

Coatesville's First Serial Killer

Young Alexander Meyer was a disturbed and angry young man with some major issues. He had failed sixth and seventh grade, and instead of having to repeat eighth grade again, he finally gave up on school. At age 16 he quit Downingtown Junior High. Meyer is not a relative, nor are his victims (that I am aware). I stumbled upon young Alex while reading Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre - But Forgotten - Murders by Tammy Mal. On 11 February 1937 Alexander Thweatt Meyer killed young Helen Moyer as she walked home from school in Coatesville along Modena Road. She was not his first. The jury was out only three minutes after hearing Dr. Michael Margolis' testimony on the death of Helen Moyer. The jury determined Meyer had murdered Moyer and should be held for first degree murder. The jury also condemned the parole system which had released Meyer back into the public, after having served just 14 months in Huntingdon Reformatory, for the murder of two other girls - Anna Blasc...

Thaddeus Stevens at the Lancaster Convention Center

Within the Lancaster Convention Center (Lancaster, PA) is a small section dedicated to Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. The section is known as the Stevens & Smith Historic Site. It is scheduled for development this year. At the moment one can only get a glimpse of it through the Convention Center or by peeking in from the outside. Here at Queen and Vine Streets in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, Thaddeus Stevens had his law office. Stevens was an abolitionist. An abolitionist is a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or (formerly) slavery. Stevens was born 4 April 1792 to Joshua Stevens and Sarah (Sally) Morrill in Danville Vermont. One of four children, he attended Vermont University from 1810 to 1812 when the War prompted its closure. He then went to Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1814. He then studied law and found himself set up in Gettysburg, PA in 1816. He practiced law there until 1828 when he...

52 Ancestors: Remembering the King

Today is Elvis’ birthday. He would have been 80 today. I was only eight when he died so obviously I am too young to have seen Elvis perform. However, when I hear his music, I go back in time. I am once again that young girl dancing in the living room to Elvis and other greats with my father. Back then girls learned to dance by dancing with their fathers not some video of scantly dressed people doing all sorts of things young ladies should not be doing in public! What is YOUR favorite memory - either of your father or of Elvis? 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a weekly genealogical challenge issued by Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small . Look for my weekly posts each Thursday! © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Genealogical Gems

Search This Blog